Multiple emergency department encounters for acute musculoskeletal presentation with an existing mental health diagnosis

Abstract

Key Clinical Message Reconceptualising acute Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries with both stress‐ and tissue‐ based factors is required to consider prior influences of mental health disorders on acute persistent MSK pain presentations. This report describes repeated emergency presentations of an individual with acute persistent MSK pain in their twenties living with mental health. Their mental health diagnoses included depression, mood disorders, and anorexia nervosa. This person also had mental health related inpatient admissions that were not captured under the retrospective record review for a large district hospital emergency department using the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) classification system. This case report attempts to demonstrate that improving the understanding of preexisting vulnerabilities and mental health diagnoses may assist with informing healthcare design to develop specialised care pathways for acute injury presentations within triage settings.

Keywords

• acute pain
• emergency presentations
• mental disorder
• mental illness